Imagine what Odsel could look like with proper investment.?

Like the greatest Speedway stadium in the world probably.....

The issue I have is when you said about the game needs to not live in the past.

One problem I think we have in RL is too much emphasis is given on "new innovative ideas" as automatically great.

Club call thats innovative, not living in the past, must be a great innovation.
Scrapping the juniors and linking up with feeder clubs in the National League, new and innovative.
Split the league in to three, must be good because at least its innovative.

Even Koukash coming in and he has to rebrand his club "Salford Red Devils". Its like we have to be doing some tinkering too look like we're progressive and forward thinking.

There's a lot to be said for a bit of conservatism and steadiness in the game. What works isn't just what's innovative, its what works.

I personally think the game is generally administered better, apart from these silly innovations, now, than it has been in the past. I was blown away by how good the World Cup was and how well supported it is. I think in general the game in the modern era (as in the last decade or so) is better and healthier than it has been before although we're in a lull at the moment because we have a bit of a dearth of talent, we don't have the great players in the game that we did in the mid 1990s or mid 2000s.

Clubs being run badly is a bit of a problem I agree but thats not a new thing, we've had clubs going bust for years. Unfortunately in any business environment you can't have an outside body that prevents individual businesses making bad decisions. In any corporate environment you see some thrive and some get it wrong and suffer the consequences. I suspect though the real problem is that SL has too many clubs - the game can't support that many.

Sally? Obtuse? Quite an astute observation methinks. I wonder how many others would share that opinion?
"Smarter than the majority on the whole site" I wonder how many others would share that opinion?

How many season tickets have we sold this year?

I personally think we are sat on the surfboard waiting for the big wave, similar to where football was 10/15 years ago. Big investers seeing the signs of oppertunism. the clubs with no ambition falling to the wayside (luton, stockport, barnsley, forets) all big premier league clubs that could not sustain the race. Luckily we are one of the forerunners in the race with Wigan, leeds, saints and now Salford. Hull keep playing with it and may now have the owner to back the cause. How many of the premiership clubs are sustainable, how many of them are owned by long term owners. Koucash and Moran are the abramovich and Shiek of super leauge add Lennigan and Mcmanus in there and the signs are there that the game could expand quickly. Rugby Union has and Soccer has erupted beyond anyones expectations. We are going through the same toils as the FA and the Premier League did a few years back. Yes its dissapointing the way the RFL are performing at the minute, but they are under pressure for there future and they need to be careful.
All will sort its self out as we have a great product that as shown in Australia is one of the best in the world and is wanted by major companies like Mcdonalds and KFC

I'm still a massive critic of Koukash. Most people say that he's good for the game....
how ? he saved a small club, just Like the guy at London has done, or the guy at Wakefield did, or the guy at Widnes or...the list goes on. He's not the first to bail out a club and he wont be the last.

his views on the game are the same as the average bloke in the street, i.e. "its a superb game its being undersold and it's run poorly"... not the first to hold those views wont be the last.

His desperation to purchase property/land or stadium is there for all to see especially with the Swinton scenario stepping up a notch. He clearly wants the Salford City stadium and some land around it would be nice!.... The best way to do it is to threaten to buy another club in "manchester" and build them a new stadium and then salford could also play out of it..... "guess what Council you own a big white elephant....told you you should have sold it to me".......

If he is so rich why didn't he offer "serious big money" to buy Saints the team that got him into the game. He could claim to turn them in to the biggest club in the country that wouldnt be outrageous, and he could sell a damn sight more Season tickets


he's largely a mouthy feller with some money hoping to make some money(from the purchase of Land or property.) I'm sure he likes Rugby League, but he was never in the News as much when he was just a race horse Owner, in fact I'd never seen his name mentioned once prior to him buying Salford.
Rugby League has given him a media mouthpiece and he has done nothing much with it so far other than ridicule the game, make it look small time, and moan so much about it it gives him an easy avenue to go down should he become "disillusioned with the sport" and walk away.

People say he has given the game publicity...how...? do people say that about Soccer when Joey Barton goes gobbing off on Twitter?...no they dont they want him to shut up.

Still good for the game? a breath of fresh air....??? I'm not having it, come out with some great ideas, some business contacts, some oil rich sheik to buy London broncos a home.......but come out with something positive other than self ed nonsense........

that Said Salford fans Love him......

to be honest I should stay away from the Koukash Debates I honestly just don't like the feller and I'm going to struggle to look at him through good for the game, dyed in the wool, Rugby League supporter tinted specs

I love Joey Barton on Twitter, some of the arguments ate hysterical.

a lot of the time the things he says are the things everyone thinks but no one will say. The rest of it he's trolling and having a mess about and every one takes him serious.

he did try and buy saints to begin with, Eamon McManus the saints chairman felt he was the "wrong fit for the club" so refused his offer (which apparently, would of seen a return on his investment in the club) - I also know "in the know" saints fans who believe it was McManus who convinced him to buy Salford.

I agree with you on the whole about koukash. I find him too attention seeking for his own good. By saying things like "we're signing a player beginning with h from a team beginning with w" makes him seem no better than an attention seeker on these forums.

Also he said in an recent interview he said 12 out of the 14 teams were in financial difficulty - I'd like to know where he got that from.

He's having a better fist of it than these owners at other clubs though because he has actually got a top class coach and managed to get some good signings and the semblance of a decent squad, so at least he is having a go.

I think he is naive and is going to make mistakes.

To use a football analogy think of Mike Ashley. When he came in he did a lot of publicity seeking cringeworthy stuff like having that Keegan shirt and downing pints in front of the fans, and when things went wrong it really turned sour for him. Also I think some people within the game took advantage of him and poorly advised him. Over time he has lowered his profile but learned to act a bit more sensibly.

Koukash will have to learn the hard way and will go through some difficult moments.

The biggest danger he could get himself in to, is when Salford hit a sticky patch, is to start publicly making statements like "I will not tolerate this failure. I can assure the fans I will take action" as he will then back himself in to a corner where he has to start getting rid of big players or Brian Noble and will make his situation worse.

He has to be able to be calm and rational when things go wrong, Simon Moran had to go through several years of underperformance on his investment but he stuck to his plan.

From the outside, it appears that Widnes are being well run. No outlandish statements from their directors, support for the coach, good sprinkling of young (often local) players. Sensible collection of experienced players (Clarke, Brown, Tickle). I think they'll make the 8 this year at the expense of Hull KR or Catalans.

Flying Biscuit, I'm with you on what you have said, not like the guy from the start, and it's not a jealousy thing that its not my club.

The difference is Simon Moran has gone about it all in the right way, kept his head down and done it for the love of his home town and club. I think it's clear these are the only main reason's he's in the game. Koukash is here for one thing and one thing only to make cash.

Who is anyone to say Simon Moran or any other chairman has gone about things in the "right way"? What exactly is the right way and which handbook did you read this from. How many trophies have Warrington won under the ownership of Simon Moran for example? Give Koukash the same time period and then lets compare the two.

The reason many people are saying he is good for the game is because unlike the chairman of the clubs you mentioned, he hasnt come in without the capital to improve the team, the club and the competition. Koukash has come on board and spent big, he's brought a talented English coach back into employment, he's paid transfer fees for some top players thus financially assisting other clubs i.e Castleford and Wakefield, he's taken a club that finished bottom of the league last season and added enough talent to make them comparative with the rest of the the league thus creating greater competition and excitement within Super League. Would people rather see a Warrington v Salford white wash or a close and entertaining game?

People dont like Marwan Koukash because he's different, the sport of RL hasnt seen anybody like this before. His personality is something the majority of RL fans arent use to, he's outspoken, brash, ambitious and just what rugby league needs. He is a successful modern day businessman who can see the value of Super League and wants to do everything he can to help it realise it's potential.

Also anyone who believes Koukash is involved in Salford Red Devils or RL in general to make cash is deluded. Ask the majority of Super League chairman and ask them how much profit they've made over the last 10 years, I can imagine only Ian Lenagan would come back with a reasonable figure purely because of the Sam Tomkins transfer fee. Sure he wants to own our stadium, but that's because without it Salford Red Devils will never be a self supporting club and we'll always be paying rent and receiving zero profit in return. It's the same with his proposals for Swinton, he knows they can only survive in the long term with their own stadium in Swinton which could generate enough profit through commercial interests (i.e bars, cafes etc) to assure their future.

JGR of course you are right to defend Koukash given the perilous state of your club before he arrived, the amount of investment he has made in financial terms, the coach and players he has attracted and by all accounts the systems that are now in place such as fantastic training facilities you must be on cloud 9?

Yes he's also raised the profile of your club and perhaps RL in general, all good stuff in principle, despite an idiotic outburst or two at the start of his tenure. BTW I think previous posters comparing him and Simon Moran were looking at their style, would our Simon order a plane with banner to fly over OT in years to come should Warrington not even make the Play Offs oh how we laughed together with a proven history with the club rather trophy's won under his stewardship.

However, do you really think that your Marwan is SO in love with RL that he thinks that owning another club is good idea for the sake of that club and RL? The only logical explanation of his supposed interest in Swinton is property investment in general? Build Swinton a new ground fill it with 6 thousand burger quaffing, beer drinking speccies every other week can't just be the plan,if it was that easy why don't we all do it? Is it a veiled threat to leave Salford Council with a white elephant if he decides you leave Barton move to Swinton on the basis that they and Peel won't sell.

Which leads us back to a possible conclusion that in Salford he saw a wider development potential rather than an inherent love for the club or even RL. Nothing wrong with that at all, but, if he doesn't get his way will his interest wain? Accepted, there are no guarentees you enjoy it while you can. I must say that I find it quite refreshing whether i nwholeheartedly agree with his antics or not, the greater number of strong clubs the league has the better the comp will be.

Finally, I'm also pleased that you can bask in the rosy glow that your transfer money has helped Wakefield and Cas. It's a pity that many of your supporters didn't feel the same way about the Myler move.

All that fraking malarkey is in that area isn't it?

He's due a mystery trip to Dubai soon...I wonder why he goes there ?

Sounds just like Dave Whelan - apart from being just what rugby league needs.

Threatening a dummy spit if he isn't allowed his way by Salford Council and the RFL.....Just what the game needs.

because he has a lot of business connections and he likes to vista sheikh mohammed because they both love horses?

A GPs' conference?

=#FF0040edit at 21:08 ok i guess you had nothing

I'll give you one right of reply with irrefutable evidence to back that up otherwise that last post is gone

As someone has said before, Koukash is a scandal just waiting to happen.

There is no comparison to be made between him and Simon Moran on any level.

Isn't the ground in the lease or ownership of Salford City Council with sub tenants being both rugby clubs ...Salford & Sale ?

I thought so, one of the big issues John Wilkinson was meeting was the cost of the rent.

I remember the first time we played there & i rang the stadium for tickets only to be told they had nothing to do with the Reds & they gave me another number.